Oil Addiction

The Hill

Anti-Keystone XL pipeline posters blasting Canada's oil sands and carbon pollution have cropped up on the streets of Washington, D.C. The posters are a part of a two-month ad campaign by Canadian environmentalist Franke James. So far, three posters are up at bus stops along Pennsylvania and Constitution Avenue.

One poster shows a an eagle drenched in crude oil and tar perched on the U.S. Capitol in front of a red and white striped background. Words on the poster read, "No Keystone XL."

Another poster reads, "Do not talk about climate change -- it is against Canada's policy," with an image of Canada's parliament buildings dropped into the tar sands.

"Ironically, being told not to talk about climate change by Canada’s (Harper) government was the inspiration for my “Oh No Canada!” show in D.C," James said in an email to The Hill. "We need to talk about climate change, not look the other way and pretend it’s not happening." Three more posters will hit the streets on Oct. 29 and will run till the end of November.

"My posters are designed to draw attention to Canada’s record of broken climate promises, the true cost of cleaning up dirty oil pipeline spills, our rising carbon pollution," James said. "I think most Americans think of Canada as the friendly neighbor to the north, but the truth is far different."

TransCanada Corp.'s Keystone pipeline has received extra attention by lawmakers and this past week as Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.), an outspoken advocate of the project, accused President Obama on Wednesday of disrespecting Canada.

He called Obama a "bystander in chief" for stalling on the pipeline, which was first proposed in 2008. But former White House energy and climate czar Carol Browner said on Thursday that she believes the president will say no to building the pipeline.

"At the end of the day I believe he is going to say no but there will be some more twists and turns before we get there," Browner said at Center for American Progress anniversary meeting. TransCanda Corp. expects the administration to hand down a decision by the end of March.

Laura Barron-Lopez writes for The Hill, from where this article is adapted.